So, I am driving to work or sitting in traffic, however you want to look at it, and Tim McGraw, Something Like That comes on. All of a sudden I am brought back to rainy weekend in 1999, to a trip to the Carolina Cup and a concert in Death Valley, Clemson.
Let me back up.......a couple weeks before this rainy weekend my "sisters" tell me they are taking me to a country concert in Clemson. I'm always up for a good time and pretty much a closet country fan, so I agree to go. It also happens to be the same weekend as the Carolina Cup, which was a big event in college.
The weekend finally arrives, I'm dating, not really dating this guy, you might know him. We all head out on a bus to the Carolina Cup. It was the safest way to get there and thank goodness we had friends who can organize something like this. We spend the day drinking, because what else would you do at the Cup but drink. At the end of the day, that guy I was dating, not really dating decided to make it official that we were dating - little did he know he would be married, have a son and a daughter on the way 12 years way. Poor guy must have had too much to drink.....and yes we all did. On the way back to the bus he was carrying a cooler with our friend, who decided he had to use the bathroom and didn't tell him and just dropped the cooler. Boyfriend ended up dislocating his shoulder - don't ask and to this day he still has issues with it.
Anyway, we finally get back home and I'm like ok new boyfriend, sorry you are in pain but I have to go because I am headed to some country concert tomorrow. We said good bye and went back home. Didn't see or talk to him until Monday. I know crazy - a time way back when before cell phones. I found out on Monday that they took him to the emergency room to have his shoulder looked at - ooooppppps. Not a very good new girlfriend. Yes, I still get crap for leaving him.
Sunday we get up and drive to Clemson to this concert. It is raining but hey we are in college we don't care. We tailgate a little and then go in. I think the concert was like 6 hours long. There was some guy singing about how he thought his tractor was sexy. I was like what the hell am I listening too, of course how was I suppose to know that he is currently the hottest guy on the planet, but we live in learn. Then we listened to Faith Hill and Tim McGraw sing together and by themselves. They were my favorite. There were quite a few other singers but I can't remember who they were.
Then finally we get to some old man singing..........George Strait. I'm from New Jersey, I didn't know he was like a God to country music fans. Trust me, I know now because I love him and little did I know at the time, that that boyfriend was a huge fan of him too. I thought he was kind of boring but like I said I learned to love him.
After the concert we drive back home, singing all the great songs we had just heard. I can still remember thinking, how lucky I was to have such great friends to make such great memories with.
This morning when I was flashing back to all this, I also thought, I hope Henry and Mary are able to have memories like these and then of course my pregnancy hormones kicked in and I started crying, ha!